


What the Moon Knows

by GretchenSinister



Category: Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Gen, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-31
Updated: 2019-03-31
Packaged: 2019-12-27 03:35:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18296030
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GretchenSinister/pseuds/GretchenSinister
Summary: Original Prompt: "After the Guardians beat him, they worry about whether it was the right thing to do, because fear is necessary.The Man in the Moon reassures them that it was right. Fear still exists, since any one emotion can’t beat out the others forever, but too much fear leads to cowardice and betrayal, and really horrible things happening, even when people don’t mean to. And with what Pitch was doing, fear would have ruled for a very long time."The Man in the Moon reassures the Guardians, but some uncertainty remains. After all, the Moon doesn’t know everything.





	What the Moon Knows

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on Tumblr on 12/13/2014.

It’s Sandy who asks the question first, and North who says it out loud. “Did we do the right thing, with Pitch?”  
  
“There had to be some consequence for what he did,” Tooth says.  
  
The others find that they agree on this point.  
  
“He had to be stopped,” Bunny says, and the others find that they agree on this point as well.  
  
“Why are you asking, Sandy?” Jack asks.  
  
Sandy turns to Jack from the seas of Dreamland and gives him a small smile.  _I will explain, do you think you will understand?_  
  
“It  _is_  easier, here,” Jack says.  
  
Sandy nods.  _You ask why I ask because Pitch killed me. But I came back. Because I am essential. You all are essential, too. And so is Pitch. Because he is fear._  
  
“But Pitch isn’t gone, is he?” Jack asks. “People are still afraid of things.”  
  
“It’s hard to say,” Tooth admits. “I haven’t seen anything, and neither have my fairies. And they often saw traces of Pitch. It happens when you deal with teeth.”  
  
“That black sand and those nightmares weren’t like anything we had seen before,” Bunny says. “Something different might have happened this time.”  
  
“Could we have messed something up?”  
  
North places a reassuring hand on Jack’s shoulder. “I think we would have noticed if we did.”  
  
“But the nightmares…”  
  
Before Jack finishes what he was going to say, if he was going to say anything at all, the moonlight on the beach grows brighter. The moon irresistibly draws the eyes of the Guardians, and as they take in its light, they are filled with reassurance.   
  
Of course you did the right thing. Pitch had to be punished, he had to be stopped, and his end was only fitting. Pitch was tilting the balance of the whole world towards fear. That much fear leads people to do terrible things. You have stopped all of those from happening. You are good. You are right.  
  
The hearts of the Guardians are filled with pride and admiration, and one by one they smile. The bright moonlight lingers for only a few moments more before fading.  
  
“Great?” says Jack. “No advice on how to keep fear at, like, an acceptable level once Pitch comes back, though. Because we still are expecting him back, right?”  
  
The others nod. “And is true, warm feelings do not help much with that,” North says.  
  
“The Man in the Moon has never been down here, has he?” Tooth asks.  
  
“Don’t think so,” says Bunny.  
  
“I wonder if he understands difference between being alone and not being alone,” North says.  
  
“If he thinks there might have been a way to stop Pitch a long time ago.” Jack scoops up a handful of sand. “Maybe after less than three hundred years of non-belief.”  
  
 _If he thinks that there’d be a way to have Pitch be a conscious part of the balance._  
  
“But, we did the best with how things were, didn’t we?” Tooth asks.  
  
“Yeah, Tooth,” says Bunny. “I think we did.”

**Author's Note:**

> Comments from Tumblr:
> 
> bowlingforgerbils said: I really liked Tooth’s line about teeth. :)


End file.
